


the season of living

by endlesspossibilities



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: 2016 era, All The Tropes, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Jealousy, Thanksgiving, also lots of family members, dating to get your family off your back, ex-boyfriends who are still in love with you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21611983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/endlesspossibilities/pseuds/endlesspossibilities
Summary: Kelley really thought she could handle anything Sonnett sent her way, but apparently, the plucky blonde still had a few tricks up her sleeve because as they sit at a coffee shop in San Jose Kelley is stunned and silent."Will you be my girlfriend?”The question is ringing in her ears as Kelley tries to formulate a way to let the young defender down easy but then Sonnett is laughing, cackling even and the brunette rolls her eyes as she realizes she’s been had.
Relationships: Kelley O'Hara/Emily Sonnett
Comments: 10
Kudos: 122





	the season of living

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to post the completed work yesterday but it's just not there yet so here's half of my Thanksgiving Fake Dating AU... more very soon!

Kelley really thought that she had her dynamic with Sonnett figured out by now. They were pals. She’d even consider them good pals despite them meeting when Sonnett was still a freaking college student and Kelley was decidedly past that stage in her life. They’ve been through it together from Sonnett’s Olympics snub to the National team leaving said Olympics early… 

Kelley really thought she could handle anything Sonnett sent her way, but apparently, the plucky blonde still had a few tricks up her sleeve because as they sit at a coffee shop in San Jose Kelley is stunned and silent.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” 

The question is ringing in her ears as Kelley tries to formulate a way to let the young defender down easy but then Sonnett is laughing, cackling even and the brunette rolls her eyes as she realizes she’s been had.

“Oh my gosh, your face! I almost want to be offended if that wasn’t so funny,” Sonnett says and Kelley huffs.

“You’re such a little shit.”

Sonnett shrugs with a grin and then looks down. When her head lifts again, her eyes are flitting between Kelley and anything else. It’s a complete contrast from a minute ago, but Kelley just waits. She knows the blonde will speak up with whatever it is soon if she doesn’t pressure her. After a few minutes of quiet coexistence, Sonny clears her throat and Kelley looks up from her phone again.

“So, I actually need to ask you a favor and you can totally say no. It’s kind of a lot to ask so I would totally understand, no pressure. I just don’t know who else to ask and Lindsey thinks I’m insane, but I’m really desperate. I don’t know. It sounds so stupid-”

“Sonnett, just ask. Whatever it is, I promise to at least consider it,” Kelley has to interrupt the young blonde when it becomes clear she’s spiraling. Sonnett nods at that and takes a deep breath.

“Okay. I’m gonna ask then I’m going to explain so give me a second… Will you pretend to be my girlfriend and come with me to Marietta for Thanksgiving? Emma called me a couple days ago and told me that my ex-boyfriend, Luke, is going to be there… Our families have been super close forever and our parents loved it when we started dating our senior year of high school. We ended up breaking up a couple years later, but they all still think we’re meant to be and anytime he’s around they get super pushy. It’s really annoying and to make it worse, Luke claims to still love me, so he always goes with it. I can’t stand another holiday dealing with all that and if I had a girlfriend there’s no way they could get away with it and since you’re the closest friend I have, proximity-wise, I thought maybe you could?”

For the second time in ten minutes, Kelley is shocked silent. It’s a crazy plan. There’s like a 90% chance it will go terribly wrong and the Sonnett family will end up hating her. She likes Thanksgiving with her family, too. The moment stretches as the older player weighs all the outcomes out in her mind and the scale is tipping toward the negative side. Yet, another look at the blonde’s pleading eyes and genuine anxiety displayed on her face has her saying,

“Okay…”

“Okay?”

Kelley shrugs a little and leans forward,

“It sounds like a complete disaster, but I’m already invested in how stupid this could get. We’ll have to prepare, though. If I’m doing this, we’ve gotta sell it.” 

Sonnett grins and nods quickly,

“Okay! I don’t think we have time right now, but we still have a couple weeks. In the meantime, I’ll let my family know that I’m bringing someone.”

Kelley agrees and then checks the time,

“Yeah, we should get back to the hotel. Alex and Allie are probably done shopping by now,” they stand up and Kelley shoots off a quick text. When she puts her phone in her pocket and goes to grab her coffee cup, she’s interrupted by Sonnett stepping into her space. The blonde awkwardly launches her body forward so she is gripping onto Kelley in a tight hug. The older defender barely has time to wrap an arm around Emily before she’s pulling away just as quickly.

“Thank you, again. I- I really appreciate this…”

Kelley smiles softly at the quiet expression of gratitude. She likes it when she gets to see the softer side of Sonnett. Perhaps, this plan isn’t completely crazy.

~

The next time it’s brought up is at the airport after camp. Their flight isn’t for another hour but the next shuttle was an hour after that so they were sprawled out across a section of the seats. Kelley is listening to some music and dozing with her eyes closed when she feels Sonnett move to the seat next to her. Her hand pushes at the brunette’s leg to gain her attention so Kelley opens her eyes and rolls her neck to look at her. Emily is smiling softly and raises her eyebrows so the older woman sighs and takes her headphones off completely.

“What’s up, Sonny?”

Sonnett bites at the side of her nail and Kelley swats her hand away from her mouth out of reflex. It’s a bad habit, anyway.

“Do you want to work on our backstory? For the Uh- thanksgiving thing?”

Kelley smirks and corrects her,

“You mean the fake girlfriends thing?” 

Emily waves her off with a partial blush,

“Same thing.”

“Sure, let's do it,” Kelley agrees and Sonnett grins and digs through her backpack and pulls out a pad of paper and a pen. Kelley knows that the blonde keeps them on her at all times just in case inspiration strikes and it comes in handy now.

“Okay! So I figure we should start at the beginning. How and when did we get together?”

“Easy, after the Olympics. You knew how upset I was and I knew how hard it was for you to not be there, so we relied on each other and pushed each other to keep getting better. We got super close and one thing led to another we kissed.”

“You mean I kissed you,” Sonnett says and Kelley laughs loudly until the blonde scrunches her face and pouts slightly.

“That was rude.”

“Sorry, but yeah right. I definitely kissed you.”

Emily shrugs but writes down ‘Kelley kisses me’ on her timeline.

“So if we’ve been together for a couple months and we’re serious enough to share a holiday why haven’t we told anyone?”

Kelley doesn’t have an answer for that ready so they both sit for a second until Emily speaks up again,

“Neither of us knew how serious it would be and we didn’t want to mess up team dynamics if it didn’t work out?”

The older defender thinks about it for a second and decides it’s believable enough. Plus, Sonnett has always been a private person. Slow to share the details of her personal life except to those lucky enough to be in her circle. Kelley isn’t sure where she stands- sometimes she thinks they’re close and other times it feels like she’s right on the outside, waiting to be let in. It’s another reason she agreed to this outrageous plan. An exclusive peek into the world of Emily Sonnett? How could she say no?

“Alright, makes sense. What else do we need to know?”

Sonnett clicks her pen against the pad of paper a couple of times before flipping it around in her fingers and writing down a few bullet points

“

where was our first date?

Have we said I love you?

Are we into a little PDA?

Have we told our friends/teammates?”

Kelley reads all of them over Sonnett’s shoulder and nudges her playfully when she sees the PDA question.

“I don’t know about the rest, but duh we’ve gotta have a little PDA. I’m a touchy person Sonnett, as everyone loves to remind me. It’s just not believable any other way.”

Kelley swears she feels Sonnett tense beside her before exhaling the tension and chuckling.

“Okay, but an arm around the shoulder and kiss on the cheek is different from like holding hands or kissing for real. Do you uh- would you be okay with kissing me?”

Kelley’s never thought much about kissing Sonnett. They flirt but it’s always friendly and Kelley had made a point to stop kissing her friends long before they met. But now that she is considering it she’s surprised by the feeling that accompanies the thought… she expected indifference or even subtle awkwardness, but instead, there’s a warmth that spreads in her chest. 

“Yeah, Em, I’d kiss you.”

And Kelley thinks she sees a blush rise on the blonde’s cheeks but before she can explore that further, there’s a familiar voice breaking into the mix.

“Excuse me? Why are you kissing Sonnett?”

The brunette grimaces but then turns with an overly sweet smile toward her friend.

“Hey, Al. What’re you doing over here?”

Alex shrugs off her backpack and says,

“Delays. Don’t change the subject.”

So far, Sonnett is quiet and Kelley only needs one glance to tell that the younger player is uncomfortable. She sits forward so she’s further in between the two of them.

“I’m not kissing Sonnett. I just said I would kiss her.”

Alex looks at her with one raised eyebrow and gracefully falls into a seat. 

“That doesn’t answer my question and don’t think you can just be quiet over there, Sonny. What are y’all up to?”

That’s exactly what Kelley was trying to avoid and she scrunches her eyes and starts to speak,

“You don’t have to answer that, Sonnett.”

Except, the blonde is already leaning around to look at Alex as she shrugs,

“It’s fine. I asked Kelley for a favor to keep my family off my back this Thanksgiving and that favor will probably include some kissing.”

Alex looks between them for a moment then chuckles,

“Oh my god. You guys are so chaotic I swear. You’re going to be Sonnett’s date to Thanksgiving?”

Kelley sinks back into the seat and looks back at Sonnett. 

“How did you figure that out so quickly?”

Alex shrugs and crosses her arms across her chest smugly,

“I just thought of the stupidest thing that could possibly mean and then realized that’s exactly what you two are doing.”

It stings a little, but Kelley doesn’t completely disagree. Sonnett, on the other hand, scrunches up her eyebrows and asks,

“Why is it so stupid?”

Alex stops laughing and looks slightly taken aback as she leans forward again to see Emily,

“Because you won’t be able to pull it off and then you’re going to look crazy in front of your whole family?”

This is probably the point in which Kelley should step in, (she’s done it before for these two. While Alex likes Sonnett, she doesn’t like how much of Kelley’s time she takes up) but she likes the way the blonde huffs slightly and sits up straighter, ready to defend herself. Not a lot of people stand up for themselves when faced with a veteran and even less when it’s a star like Alex.

“We can pull it off. Kelley and I have great chemistry.”

Kelley can’t help the little smile that appears at that. She has always thought that, but they’ve never actually acknowledged it before.

“Right? Okay, glad I’m not alone in that feeling,” she finally butts in, ignoring the actual argument to agree with Sonny. Alex just rolls her eyes then smirks.

“So kiss.”

~

The week leading up to Thanksgiving goes by quickly. Kelley is split between spending time in her apartment for once and visiting her parents at home. Her and Sonnett meet up one more time on Sunday before Kelley is set to drive to Peach Tree for three days since she is missing Thanksgiving. Her mom had been surprisingly understanding about Kelley missing out on a family holiday when she explained that it was a favor for a friend in need. She hadn’t asked a ton of questions which Kelley found to be odd but she was too grateful to question it fully.

Even after years of living away from home and countless nights in countless beds, there is something about the sleep Kelley gets in her old bedroom that always has her waking up feeling rested and right. That first morning back is no exception, especially when she hears the sound of her older sister’s voice traveling up the stairs and signaling her arrival to the O’Hara house.

Kelley gets up slowly, slipping on some socks before she takes her phone and leaves the room. She finds Erin and her mom in the family room -- awake and talking. The defender can’t help but smile as she walks in and makes her presence known with a level,

“Morning, family.”

Erin turns with a smile and immediately chirps,

“One of these days you’re gonna learn to wake up at a reasonable hour.”

Kelley rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Her hair is still down from sleeping and it lands across her shoulders and in her face until she pulls it up into a loose ponytail with the band around her wrist.

“It’s like 9:15.”

“Exactly, the real adults have been awake for a couple hours.”

It’s a running joke that Kelley never had to really grow up during her years after high school and college.

“Alright, be nice. There’s pumpkin bread in the kitchen, sweetie, and if you’re getting coffee can you refill my mug as well?” Their mom hands her coffee cup to Kelley who nods and makes her way to the kitchen. She finds the pot of coffee and coffee mugs in their usual places and walks around the kitchen with ease, cutting off a slice of bread but also making a point to grab a banana and some yogurt as well. She’s fixing up her coffee when she notices Erin join her. Her older sister rinses her mug out before turning toward Kelley.

Erin cocks her hip and raises her eyebrow as Kelley stirs honey into her coffee. It’s a familiar look. One that growing up meant that her big sister was about to make a point and Kelley should be wary.

“What’s this I hear about you skipping out on Thanksgiving this year?”

Kelley takes her time answering. She sips her coffee and lets the slightly bitter taste flood her mouth. Then she looks up and shrugs,

“Yeah, it’s not a huge deal, though. It’s just a favor for a friend.”

Erin gives her a doubtful look and leans on her elbows onto the counter. She can hear her dad in the next room over, on the phone, clearly distracted.

“Mom said you were going to a teammate’s hometown? She didn’t know who it was, so you’re not going to Alex’s or Christen’s cause Mom loves them. So where are you going?”

Kelley nods and chuckles lightly because of how true that is. She’d told her mom she was going to Sonnett’s but they haven’t been close long enough for her mom to know the young player.

“I’m just going up the road to Sonnett’s. She’s from Marietta.”

Erin smiles. She stands straight again and leans against the counter with her hip as she shakes her head subtly.

“I knew you were going to say Sonnett! And okay, yes she lives close by, but why? What’s the favor?”

Kelley bites her lip. Maybe Erin pays better attention to her big sister duties than Kelley gives her credit for. 

“That’s not really important.”

Erin scoffs and tilts her head at the soccer star. No matter how many gold medals hung around Kelley’s neck she will always be the younger sister to Erin, so Kelley is aware that she is going to have to spill.

“Okay. I’m pretending to be her girlfriend so her family will lay off of her about getting back together with her ex-boyfriend who will guess what- also be there.”

Her sister’s eyes widen as she takes in the truth. A slow exhale leaves her body then she shakes her head with a laugh,

“You’re fucked.”

Kelley huffs and puts her coffee down,

“Why does everyone keep saying that? Emily and I can totally pull off being a couple!”

Erin cuts her off before she can rant,

“You’re right. I bet you can. That’s not why you’re fucked.”

The freckled defender pauses and her eyebrows scrunch once quickly before she says,

“What do you mean then?”

“You’re fucked because you and Sonnett are going to be pretending to be together and all the while, you’ll be wishing it were real.”

Kelley laughs loudly and shakes her head. Never mind, Erin has obviously lost her touch.

“No way, E. I do not have feelings like that for Sonnett.”

“That’s what you think now. But just wait till after a couple of days of playing a couple. You’re not going to want to stop.”

Kelley rolls her eyes. Erin is staring her down seriously, no flicker of humor to her statements, but no matter how confident her sister is, Kelley can’t agree.

“Look, Sonnett is funny and a very nice human, but she’s way too young. I’m more like a mentor.”

“A mentor? You guys text all the time about stupid stuff. The other day when we were FaceTiming, Emily called you and you ended our call to answer. You’re weirdly possessive over her. I remember the times you complained about how much of Sonnett’s time Lindsey and the other kids take. Plus, she’s super cute,” Erin lists off all her reasons.

Kelley listens and thinks. Sure, all of those things might be true on the surface, but that doesn’t have to mean anything.

“Whatever. That proves nothing. I’m telling you, it’ll be fine.”

Erin shrugs and steps back from the counter, obviously seeing a dead-end in front of her.

“Okay. But I’ll keep my phone on for ya,” she winks and turns, leaving Kelley alone in the kitchen again. She taps her blunt nails across the counter for a second before shaking her head. Her sister isn’t always right. Still, when she takes out her phone and notices a text from Sonnett she can’t help the small grin that tugs at the corners of her mouth.

~

She’s not nervous to meet Sonnett’s family. Her heart is beating at a totally acceptable rate and her palms are dry. Kelley doesn’t get nervous about a lot of things and she’s certainly not going to start now. Not when they have a show to sell. Sonnett picked her up this morning at 11 and she had two coffees from Starbucks with her and a banana and some trail mix. She insisted on putting Kelley’s bag in the trunk, even though it’s just a simple duffel that the brunette is more than capable of lifting. Emily is serious as she explains the playlist situation and Kelley is attentive until they get on the road and she realizes they’re actually doing this. It’s only an hour between their hometowns and for a couple of soccer players used to long bus rides and plane rides, she knows that’s nothing.

She’s not nervous. Yet, she can’t stop thinking through all the scenarios of how this week can go. Her discussion with Erin yesterday is still fresh. As much as Kelley doesn’t want to give it any weight when Emily bites her lip and thanks her again before laughing awkwardly and blushing as she says,

“I know it’s stupid but it really means a lot to me and I just wanted you to know that before we get there and everything becomes… I don’t know,”

it won’t leave her mind. 

Because she knows it is a big deal to Emily and that’s exactly why it was never really a question about if she would do it. So she just nods.

“Don’t worry, Em. I’ve got your back.”

~

Marietta looks a lot like Peach Tree if Kelley is being honest. Emily points out a few local landmarks as they drive in and makes special care to drive by the town’s Waffle House. Soon, they’re pulling up in front of the Sonnett’s family home and Kelley is psyching herself up.

It almost feels like the moment before she takes the field. Right now, in the sanctuary of the car, they’re simply in the locker room before a game. This is a challenge and Kelley plans on winning. Except, the goal isn’t clear.

“You ready?”

It’s Emily who asks and Kelley has to blink out of whatever zone she was in because she should be the one checking in on the young blonde— not the other way around.

“You know it. What about you?”

Sonnett smiles softly and shrugs,

“As ready as I can be. Let’s do it.”

Emily doesn’t bother knocking on the front door, instead of leading them both up the driveway to the side door that leads directly into the kitchen area.

“Mom! Hello!” 

It’s only a second before there’s the sound of footsteps and Sonnett’s mom, sister and grandma fill the kitchen. Emily is quickly swept into tight hugs and kissing cheeks as Kelley stands by with the luggage, carefully setting her bag down against the wall and shifting on her feet. She’s met Emma, but she’s never actually formally met Sonnett’s mom. They were all supposed to go to dinner after that game in Atlanta, but plans got changed then canceled and now Kelley wishes they could have made it work. To take the pressure off.

“Hey, Kelley! It’s good to see you too,” Emma redirects the attention to the quiet brunette. 

“Hi,” Kelley smiles and allows herself to be pulled into a quick hug. Sonnett smiles and clears her throat,

“Mom, Gramma, this is Kelley.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Kelley. I’ve heard a lot about you- for many years now,” Mrs. Sonnett says about the blonde’s years as a fan. Kelley just laughs and replies,

“It’s lovely to meet you, too, Mrs. Sonnett. Emily has told me a lot about you.”

It’s the first subtle change. Here, she’s not Sonnett, she’s Emily.

“I’m sorry, dear. I must have missed something I didn’t realize that Emily was bringing home a friend! Are you one of Emily’s soccer teammates?” Gramma asks and Kelley looks back at Emily for assistance. Luckily, the blonde is already stepping in to say,

“Kelley is on the national team with me, but, um, more importantly, she’s actually my girlfriend, Gramma.”

The room is suddenly quiet and very still as everyone holds their breath at the confession until Gramma smiles,

“Oh, how lovely. Now I know who will be helping me make the pie tomorrow!” 

And it’s not that Kelley was expecting a different reaction, but growing up in the south and interacting with some of her own older family members has left her wary, so when Gramma pulls her in for a hug-- well, that’s not so bad.

Then Emily leads her by the hand up the stairs to her old room and Kelley’s sure they’ve held hands before at some point. Probably in a huddle or for a quick picture, but she’s never noticed just how soft Sonnett’s hands are. 

“Oh, God. That was already a lot… Are you sure this is okay?” Emily whispers as she closes the door behind her. Kelley turns slowly on her heel as her eyes travel over the walls of the young defender’s childhood bedroom. There’s a lot of soccer memorabilia, ATL sports merch, and pictures of the blonde and her friends. She is grinning as she turns back to Emily who is still nervously standing by the door.

“Sonny, it’s fine. That was nothing and I think it’s a little late for me to back out.”

Emily nods slowly and takes a step further into her room. It’s obvious she’s still anxious, though, so Kelley just raises her eyebrows and points over her shoulder at a retro Atlanta United poster.

“That is awesome. Where did you get that?”

Emily’s eyes shift and lock onto the vintage framed poster. She smiles and her shoulders drop a little as she allows herself to be distracted,

“It was my dad’s. He was always the big soccer guy and the reason Emma and I were always on youth teams. He gave it to me as a high school graduation present. I’ve been meaning to take it to Portland, actually.”

Kelley nods and looks at it fully again.

“I’m very jealous. Do not be surprised if it goes missing after this week.”

Sonnett laughs and shakes her head,

“You will have to fight me for that one, O’Hara.”

Kelley just shrugs and winks,

“I think I can take ya.”

~

They’ve been socializing with Sonnett’s family including her parents, Emma and her grandparents when there’s a knock on the front door and Mrs. Sonnett, or Jane as she made sure to clarify after Kelley kept referring to her as ma’am, hops up to answer it.

“That should be the Todds!”

Kelley feels Emily tense beside her and looks over to see all the nerves back on the young player’s face. She uses the hand that’s been resting lightly on Sonnett’s knee to squeeze reassuringly. She has a feeling she knows who is about to walk in. When Jane comes back into the living room, she’s followed by a middle-aged couple and a man about Sonnett’s age. He has dusty, dark blonde hair and dark brown eyes and must be six feet tall. He’s… hot and Kelley is instantly thrown off-guard as he smiles at Emily as soon as he walks in.

Everyone is standing around her, so Kelley stands too as people hug and greet each other in the way you reserve for old dear friends. The man is passed around the room before he comes to stand in front of Kelley and Emily,

“Hey, Em. It’s so good to see you.”

“Hi, Luke. How are you doing?”

Kelley watches as Luke shrugs and grins,

“Good as always. I just moved back to Atlanta, actually. How are you? Portland still treating you well?”

The older defender shouldn’t be surprised that he knows where Emily plays now. They dated for years and their families are friends, but there’s something about the way he asks that feels too familiar and she finds herself clearing her throat lightly. Emily quickly angles her body to include Kelley and says,

“Whoops. Luke, this is Kelley O’Hara.”

Kelley puts on her winningest smile and sticks her hand out for a handshake. When Luke places his hand there, she uses just enough of her strength to squeeze his palm.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I really should have better manners than to ignore such a beautiful woman. It’s nice to meet you, Kelley. I’m assuming you play with Emily?”

As a women’s professional soccer player, Kelley doesn’t pretend like everyone should recognize her. She isn’t famous by any definition, but it still stings a little when someone who must know a little about WOSO is oblivious.

“Well, I actually play for Sky Blue FC, but Emily and I met through the national team.”

“Kelley is a defender, too, but she’s way better than me. She was on the team that won the World Cup last year,” Emily boasts and Kelley rolls her eyes.

“Don’t be so modest, Em. I’m only a little bit better than you,” she teases because she is confident that Emily knows by now how much Kelley respects her talent and work ethic.

“That’s awesome! Congrats to you. Emily, you have really upgraded your friend pool hanging out with World Cup Champions.”

“If you think that’s impressive, you’ll be blown away to know that Emily and I aren’t just friends.” Kelley wraps a possessive arm around the blonde’s waist and looks away from Luke to smile softly at her fake girlfriend. Emily is already looking down at her and her smile is already there and for a second, Kelley swears she sees hazel-grey eyes flit down to her lips, but then Emily is looking away and it could have been anything. 

“I didn’t realize, I-. I’m sorry,” Luke laughs awkwardly and rubs the back of his neck.

“It’s fine, Luke. We haven’t been public about it yet, so you couldn’t have known,” Sonnett explains, looping an arm around Kelley’s shoulders and pulling her closer.

“Yeah, she didn’t even tell me till two weeks ago. Which, by the way, still mad about,” Emma steps in with a pointed look toward her twin. It’s a remarkable feat how well she gets her message across especially considering the fact that what Emily actually told her two weeks ago was the truth. The twin sisters are horrible at keeping secrets from each other so it was the only option.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, then, Kelley. And seriously, Em, talk about an upgrade,” Luke says with a gesture between himself and Kelley.

“Oh, Kelley, I’m sure you have heard that our dear Luke and Emily were high school sweethearts,” Mrs. Sonnett steps in with a hand of Luke’s shoulder. The blonde next to her sighs quietly so Kelley looks over to see a subtle disappointed look on her friend’s face. 

“Here we go,” Emily mutters just loud enough for the freckled defender to hear. Kelley takes it upon herself to shrug and say casually,

“Sorry, Emily hadn’t mentioned that. We don’t make a point about talking about our exes often. That’s one of the things I like about Sonny— she lives in the present, not the past.”

Yes, it’s a little cliche but it gets the reaction Kelley wants when everyone ‘awws’. If she’d been looking at Emily, she might have seen the way she blushes through her cheeks and up her ears or the way she looks down with a bite of the lip. Instead, her eyes are fixated on Luke so she can see the flash of something— jealousy or anger most likely— in his eyes before he puts on an amicable grin.

“For a holiday all about food I am way too hungry right now. Is it time for lunch?” 

Everyone agrees and Mrs. Sonnett and Emma head to the kitchen to get everything ready. Not wanting to work too hard before the holiday, they’d ordered BBQ from a local joint and it was only a matter of putting it out.

“I didn’t know they were having BBQ… is this okay? I can scrounge through the fridge and throw together a salad if you want,” Emily suggests since she knows Kelley doesn’t eat a lot of meat. She’s quiet when she says it, head tilted down so it’s just between her and Kelley and it’s for that reason that the brunette smiles as she shakes her head ‘no’.

Kelley knows that this is just Sonnett being the genuinely nice and attentive friend that she is and has nothing to do with any fake relationship. Emily tilts her head doubtfully and eyes the platters of meat, but Kelley also points out the few sides of green beans, corn, and mac n cheese. (not the healthiest lunch she’s ever had, but not the worst either) Sadly, their moment of quiet debate is interrupted when Luke eyes Kelley avoiding the meat and speaks up,

“Oh, Kelley, are you a vegetarian?”

Kelley’s head shoots up and over to the tall man, wary of where this is going.

“Not exactly-”

“Cause it’s hard to believe that Emily would ever date a herbivore. She loves meat too much,” Luke continues with a chuckle-- obviously proud of his quip. It’s a stupid comment that hardly makes sense until Kelley notices a hard edge in Luke’s smile. She wrinkles her brow as she thinks back to if there was a subtle emphasis on the word ‘meat’. Luke is still eyeing her and from the way his eyebrows lift just barely, Kelley has her answer and she’s suddenly hot with anger. She just met Luke, but she already hates him.

“Kelley likes to have a plant-based diet, but she does eat meat, just usually not this much,” Emily quickly explains since they’ve gained the attention of her family and Kelley is grateful that the younger blonde seems oblivious to the statement Luke just slyly made. She paints on a smile when Mr. Sonnett offers to get her something else and shakes her head again,

“No, no, I’m totally fine. Thank you though.”

And if Kelley makes a point of stabbing a sausage with her fork right in front of Luke, who's to blame her?

~

The invitation comes around 4 after several hours of the two families hanging out and reconnecting. Kelley spends most of the time following Emily around— it is her family— and she has to admit, they’ve made a good couple. Emily is attentive and inclusive, making sure Kelley knows she belongs there and the brunette finds it easier and easier to slip a hand into the young woman’s and call her, ‘babe.’

It’s clear they’ve won over Sonnett’s mom and Gramma, but Emily’s dad didn’t have some concerns about their age difference… Luckily, Emma stepped in and reminded her dad that they were both adults with similar, unusual lifestyles and that meant more than a few years. She says it so confidently and quickly that Kelley is left wondering if she’s told this speech before… 

Of course, she doesn’t see the way Emma winks at her twin after she’s done.

It’s going surprisingly well when Luke brings up the bonfire.

“So are you guys coming to the bonfire at John Lewis' place tonight?”

Kelley raises her eyebrows at the words bonfire and angles her head to see Emily’s reaction. They’re on the couch, Kelley leaning into the blonde’s side and she doesn’t like Luke, but he’s been very nice since lunch and she isn’t sure if that is any better.

“I don’t know. Who’s going? Emma?”

Emma wiggles her shoulders and smiles,

“Come on, we have to go. You know it’s tradition.”

Emily rolls her eyes good-naturedly,

“Sure, but it’s not like we’re not in college anymore. We don’t have to go hang out with people from high school…”

Emma scrunches her eyebrows and looks at Luke then back to Emily,

“What do you mean— we love bonfire night.”

Emily blushes slightly and looks down at her lap and it’s then that Kelley has to speak up,

“It sounds fun, babe. You don’t have to miss out just because I’m here,” the older player says lightly but when Sonnett lets out a breath and shrugs with a soft smile her suspicion is confirmed.

“Are you sure? I know you probably don’t want to hang out with a bunch of old Marietta kids…”

Kelley chuckles and shakes her head because of course that was the actual problem. Because Kelley might be pretending to date her on Thanksgiving and spending three days hanging out with Sonnett’s family and ex-boyfriend, but Emily still worries she is asking too much of her friend.

“At the risk of sounding insanely corny-- as long as you’re there, I’ll be happy.”

~

Which is exactly how they end up bundled in jackets and scarves and walking around to the back of John Lewis’ property. When Luke offered to carry the cooler of beer, Kelley also stepped forward to help him out, so they’re holding a nice Yeti cooler between them. It’s Luke’s. It’s full of Budweiser, PBR and some seltzer called White Claw that Emma swears is going to be huge in three years. As soon as they walk around the corner, the grounds become lit up from the glow of a large bonfire that illuminates the groups of people standing around. When they get closer, Emily, Emma, and Luke get recognized and people start yelling over and saying hi. They drop off the cooler on the edge of the circle and then Emily leads her to a group of women that were the first to greet Emma and Emily.

“Sonnett sisters!” “Hi!” “How are you guys?” “Who’s this?” 

The four women, who all look to be the same age as Sonnett, speak at once and then laugh.

“What’s up, guys? This is my girlfriend, Kelley. Kelley, these are some of the girls on my high school soccer team, Alison, McKayla, Annie and Jess,” Emily responds and then introduces everyone. Kelley gives them each a handshake after and introduces herself better,

“Hi, I’m Kelley O’Hara.”

“I knew it! I thought I recognized you from Em’s Instagram, but I wasn’t sure with the beanie and everything,” Jess says with a clap of her hands.

“Oh hell yeah! I totally know you! You’re one of Sonnett’s World Champion teammates! That’s awesome. I didn’t know you guys were dating!”” Alison recognizes her next and Kelley laughs. Emily steps closer then, snaking a hand up to the base of her neck and stroking the sliver of skin she finds there as she shrugs into her,

“It’s still kind of new, but it’s good, really good, so we wanted to spend the holiday together.”

“Aw, oh my gosh, y’all are adorable.”

It’s dark and the flame causes flickers of shadow, so Kelley’s sure no one could notice the way that comment makes her cheeks warm (although she was already feeling flushed from the gentle press of Emily’s fingers still on her neck).

Emma passes out a couple of cans and they all start drinking and talking. Some of the guys toss a football around the area and someone has a speaker going with a playlist that features both rap and country with a surprisingly good flow. Emma and Emily’s old teammates are actually really cool and chill and supply the brunette defender with countless stories of Sonnett’s high school antics. It’s safe to say her friend hasn’t changed all that much since then. And as the fire burns, the beers start to add up until Kelley can no longer feel the chill of the wind and she’s laughing a little louder and a little more often. She’s always been an affectionate drunk. In college, it always led her into trouble, but she’s matured since then. 

Except, Emily brings out a different side of her. A looser side that likes to forget how adults are supposed to act and each time Emily tells a joke and then leans closer to her as she laughs, Kelley finds her eyes dipping.

It’s after the third time she catches herself staring at two pretty pink lips that Kelley remembers their situation or she remembers what she can do. They’re girlfriends and they’re drinking so it’s believable when Kelley closes the distance between them and kisses Emily. They melt together softly, fitting together in more than a peck and then pull away slowly. It’s sweet yet hot and even better than their first kiss.

~


End file.
